Augmented reality, much like any other form of technology, has evolved, presenting the world with a new opportunity through location-based augmented reality. Though, before we delve further into its intricacies, let’s discuss virtual reality – another form of a digital experience. By 2018, the VR industry had grown to a $2.57 billion mammoth from a paltry $129 million industry in 2015. The point is that both forms of delivering digital experiences, i.e., AR and VR, have fundamentally transformed how customers engage with businesses, especially in the retail sector.
Also, while both AR and VR have delivered a plethora of benefits for retail businesses, we have a new offering knocking at our doors that offers even better potential: location-based technology. Moreover, as it continues to make headway, one is bound to deliberate its potential in the context of AR in the retail sector. So the potential it has! Location-based augmented reality experiences not only stand to captivate customers in retail stores but also help persuade them to interact with products in the stores. Moreover, since AR is liked better owing to the ease of accessibility, in this article, we’ll focus on how location-based augmented reality stands to benefit the retail sector.
- Better customer engagement: Combine location-based offerings, exclusive benefits and rewards, and notifications for customers and what you get is significantly better engagement. Don’t believe us? A study found that more than 50 percent of retail companies leverage location data to draw customers to their stores and have achieved better ROI for marketing endeavors.
- Highlight products: If you thought the only use of location-based augmented reality in retail is to improve engagement, you’d be very wrong. Among other things, it can be used to steer customers towards specific areas of the store or call attention to certain products. Real-time marketing AR offers can be integrated on select locations, which will motivate customers to move to the desired part of the outlet or engage with the targeted product.
Also, it’s not only assumptions; multiple companies have successfully realized stunning results. Take Adidas’ example — the company teamed up with Microsoft Kinect to develop a body scanner that has been placed in their retail outlets. When customers visit the store, their body is scanned, which then allows them to try out different apparel virtually. They gain the ability to try out many clothes without needing to remove what they are wearing. The best part? After scanning the customer, it is an option for them to virtually try out garments at the store as well as at their home.
A GPS based app that makes use of augmented reality has already begun to fundamentally transform retail businesses. Besides allowing customers to check out the products they are interested in digitally, they also enable companies to deliver customized and holistic customer experiences based on the data gathered from customers’ prior interactions with the brand. Now you see why location-based augmented reality has the retail industry going gaga over it, don’t you?
